Snow-Filled Footsteps
by nightfury150
Summary: A collection of drabbles, oneshots, and series-es about the guardians - from acquaintances to comrades to friends to family, there're stories to tell and quirks to discover. First one's pretty short, but others will be longer! Features all guardians and maybe the Burgess kids (*cough*mainlytheBennettkids*cough*). (MOVED TO AO3, SEE CHAPTER 5 FOR DETAILS)
1. Freefalling

**HELLO AND WELCOME! I'm pretty sure that this kind of fiction isn't much of a novelty anymore, so I don't really need to explain. It's just a collection of drabbles, oneshots, and a few sprinkled series-es for RotG.**

**I don't know if there are any spelling mistakes. . . just gloss over them. I'm sure it's fine. . . *laughs awkwardly***

**LET US BEGIN!**

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**Freefalling**

Jack whooped as he let the wind carry him above the cloud line (or where it would be had there been any clouds), spiralling and corkscrewing upwards win increasing speed: as fast as North's sleigh, faster, _faster_.

Manny, he loved days like this.

When the snow had been spread satisfactorily, and he had more than half the day off. When there weren't any clouds to conceal things or rough, uncontrollable winds to blow him off-course. When everything was relaxed, and he could do this as many times as he wanted.

He whooped again, hearing the sound rip past him. Watching North's workshop gradually get smaller until it looked like one of his toys, then smaller and smaller until it was just a black speck and he could begin to see the gentle curve of the earth, then smaller still until he couldn't see the building anymore.

Jack stopped there, at the height where no planes could go, at the height where even North in his sleigh dared not reach. He could see the stars (despite it being the middle of the day down on the ground) and he could knew from experience that he was hovering around what Jamie's teachers called the "ozone layer". The air was extremely thin - so thin Jack could barely breathe - but that was part of what he liked. He loved the breathlessness, the gasp when he reached lower altitudes, the way everything was so silent he could hear his heart beating and his nerves crackling and his lungs moving. He grinned, grasping his staff tightly before straightening himself until he could see the white splodge that was the North Pole, and where he hoped North's workshop was.

He tilted himself until he was completely vertical, upside down, face turned to the earth.

He squeezed his shepherd's crook -

\- and threw it like a javelin towards the ground.

Immediately he felt the straggles of wind that had managed to follow him up here sigh and stop fussing over him.

He began to fall, steadily gaining speed until he had almost caught up with his staff.

Even though he was keeping his arms fairly loose, he grinned at the telltale _**boom**_ that signified the broken sound barrier, letting a scream of adrenaline and joy escape his mouth.

His eyes were lit up with excitement, he knew - he could _feel _them glittering - and his face sported a manically wide grin.

He yelled out again, whooping and laughing. Nobody could hear him anyway - even if he was in earshot of the ground, everyone currently at the North Pole was inside and the walls of Santa's workshop were practically soundproof.

Jack glanced to the side, making sure that his staff was still there (it was, but beginning to lag behind now, the affects of Jack's throw wearing off) before grabbing it and chucking it downwards in a similar manner to before.

He tucked his arms into his sides, further increasing the speed of his descent.

The sound barrier exploded again, earning another whoop from the spirit.

Jack could just about see the windows in Santoff Clausen now, North's workshop growing steadily larger with each passing second.

_"Yeah!"_ He let himself holler.

Santa's residence was as big as his hand, bigger, as big as his head, bigger, as big than him, and then bigger.

The spirit of winter cheered and twisted, somersaulting and twirling but never slowing down.

He could feel the wind racing him - she loved this just as much as he did - but she kept steadying his flight path despite multiple previous occasions when she'd accidentally blown him off-course (now _that_ had been a Thursday to remember).

The gap between Jack and the ground was growing smaller with each passing second.

Grinning, Jack snatched his staff when he was only ten metres from the ground, putting both feet on the metaphorical brakes and air-skidding to a halt with his face a mere handful of inches from the snow drift he'd created earlier.

The winter spirit burst out laughing, breathlessly collapsing into the snow drift and letting his staff roll gently out of his hand while he gulped for air between giggles. He felt the adrenaline pumping through his body, and decided to himself (and not for the first time) that freefalling from over a hundred thousand feet was _way _better than any fairground, theme park or carnival ride any part of the world could offer.

"Crikey, Snowflake, tha' stunt looks worse th'n North's deathtrap o' a vehicle." A voice said. "Dunno why yer laughin'."

Jack's eyes shot open. He scrambled to his feet. Bunny wasn't supposed to be here. Bunny was meant to be in his Warren, painting eggs. Bunny should have been out researching new egg designs. Bunny wasn't supposed to be here.

The wind lifted his staff up for hm and Jack took it without looking, too busy staring at Bunny and wondering when he'd arrived and how much he'd seen to notice the Pooka's surprised blink when his staff levitated into his hand for no apparent reason.

"How long have you been here?" Jack blurted.

"Why'd yer stick float inta yer 'and like tha'?" Bunny exclaimed at the same time.

"Ye first." Bunny said after another moment of staring.

"How long have you been here?" Jack repeated.

Bunny blinked, then smirked. "I've been 'ere the 'hole time, mate. Didja really not no'ice me all this time?"

Jack sighed. "No, I mean how much did you see? Of my freefall?"

Bunny's smirk slowly faded as he thought. "Dunno, Frostbite." He said after a while. "I saw ye flyin' up inta th' sky, so I stayed fer a bit." Bunny, who seemed satisfied with how much he'd told Jack (no need to tell the annoying icicle that E. Aster Bunnymund had been worried about him - not that he _had_, of course), gave the spirit a pointed look. "Now, why'd yer stick float inta yer 'and like tha'?"

"That was the wind." Jack said in a tone of voice that declared that he thought the answer was blindingly obvious. "She does that kinda thing every once in a while."

"Th' _wind_?" Bunny blinked again, confused. Also - the wind was a girl?!

Jack watched him with wary eyes. "Yeah." He answered slowly. "She carries me around. And she's annoying sometimes -"

A gust of wind shoved Jack's shoulder backwards, and Jack grinned.

Bunny's mouth dropped open.

"Strewth." The Pooka muttered after a heartbeat of silence. "Get inside, Frostbite, yer explaining somewhere warmer."

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**Hope that wasn't too short! I should update pretty soon, hopefully. . .**

**I'll write a sequel if anyone wants one.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Mistake 1: No More

**Good grief, people, I only published this yesterday afternoon! I've already got six follows and three reviews and one favourite! THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**On another note, my cat's sitting on me XD he's super fluffy :D**

**Aaaaaaaand here's the second instalment. . . hope it's okay!**

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**Mistake**

_And Daddy don't like you_

_But Daddy and I never speak_

**_~ Roses; James Arthur, Emeli Sandé_**

Tooth was angry. No, that wasn't an intense enough feeling - Tooth was absolutely _furious. _They'd recruited a new member, a new guardian, who was _worthy _of the title, and, as soon as the battle with Pitch was over, Manny wanted them to just _ditch _him?

If MiM thought that was going to happen, then he had another think coming. There was no way they were going to let Jack slip back into loneliness; they didn't even want to imagine what it would do to him if he was alone for three hundred years and, just when he was _this close _to having friends, to having a family, it got snatched away from him. Manny knew it would drive _them _crazy - what about someone was desperate for believers, for people who trusted him and were nice to him and loved him? For someone who wanted all that, the three days they'd spent with the other guardians must be a luxury, a privilege, a dream come true.

On that train of thought. . . what if Jack thought that all of this _was _a dream? What if he expected the guardians to do as Manny was ordering, and revoke his guardianship and stop interacting with him?

Tooth paused in her glaring at the moon and glanced worriedly at their newest comrade. He was hunched in on himself even as he teased Bunny about his fear of the sleigh; she was pretty sure he was psyching himself up for the North Pole, and whatever he thought was going to happen there.

Tooth looked at the moon again. It leered down at her, its previously comfortingly serene face now looking detached and superior and uncaring. _You can't disobey me, guardian, _it seemed to say, and the usually calm guardian tried to squash the urge to punch something. She'd already punched Pitch in the face (knocking out a tooth; she was pretty proud of herself, if she had to admit it), exceeding her usual yearly quota of punches, and now she wanted to punch something else? North must be rubbing off on her. . .

She glimpsed a flicker in Jack's expression: his cheeky grin faltered as Bunny's attention was taken off of him by the bumpiness of the sleigh ride. The winter spirit's mouth tightened into a grimace; his eyes dulled until they were distant and hurt and resigned; his shoulders slumped dramatically.

Tooth's eyes narrowed. She transferred her gaze back to the moon - he stared right back at her, haughty and proud, and she felt a wave of loathing swell up inside of her. What would happen if he went crazy? she asked him silently, somewhat dreading the answer. What happens if he sides with Pitch, or some other evil spirit?

_If he proves to be a problem, _he answered, _then I will eliminate him accordingly. I refuse to let him be troublesome any longer._

Her eyes narrowed further. He'd said that without hesitation. There had been no pause in his words, no hesitation or trace of guilt; he was _anticipating _'eliminating' Jack, she realized with a suppressed growl; he couldn't wait to exercise his fancy powers and murder a perfectly good spirit (better than some others Tooth could mention) for no reason other than because he could_._

I won't let you, she answered him mentally as they landed the sleigh. Everyone traipsed inside, following North as he exclaimed about cookies and celebrations and _"Well done, Jack!". _Tooth hung back for a moment, still watching the moon and addressing him in her head. I won't let you kill Jack just because of some petty reason. You don't have that much power over me.

She turned her back on the moon and flew inside. She didn't look back.

**€¥£βμ§→ Bunny POV ←§μβ£¥€**

Bunny was seething. He was having one of the angriest moments he'd ever had in his life, and he couldn't punch anything because if he stood up in this stupid, flimsy wooden box North called transport he was going to throw up, and if he punched anything from this position he'd either break his wrist or Jack's nose. As tempting as the latter option was, he didn't want to hurt the kid (MiM, he never thought he'd say that of all things), and he didn't want to give Manny any ideas. He was already asking the guardians to kick Jack off the team; how far of a stretch was it to go from that to 'just punch him and abuse him to death, and I'll make sure he never comes back'?

Bunny felt the sleigh rock underneath him, and his attention drifted to making sure he didn't get to see his breakfast again.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tooth go from looking at the moon - wait, was she glaring? Oh, crikey, Manny's in for it - to looking over his head, at Jack, and he briefly wondered what was wrong with the kid as her expression went from anger to concern before her eyes flicked back to the moon and her hard expression set again. He let the nausea fade before he shot a glare up at the winter spirit as the kid grinned at him and asked if his skin was green underneath all that fur.

_You see, Aster?_ the moon hummed. _He is only an annoyance. Get him out of the guardians, and you'll never see him ag -  
_

Yeah, Bunny interrupted, somehow managing to sound civil and polite even as he clenched his fists. If he didn't keep his anger under wraps he was going to destroy the sleigh. . . 'Cause you'll make 'im an outcas'.

_Oh, I'll do better than that. _Manny said smugly.

Bunny felt himself freeze. Surely. . . Manny wasn't going to _kill _Jack, was he. . . ?

_On point as always, Bunnymund, _MiM smiled. _So, will you help me? All you have to do is revoke his guardianship._

No, Bunny told him and his voice sounded decisive even in his head. I won't help you. Sorry, but I'm not hurting any spirits on some stupid whim of yours.

_Very well, _Manny said stiffly. _But do not expect me to be nice to you or anyone on your side._

If ya were nice, Bunny retorted, then ya'd need savin'.

He jumped out of the sleigh before it had even landed properly and ran inside.

**€¥£βμ§→ Sandy POV ←§μβ£¥€**

Sandy was similarly livid. Despite the fact that he was a normally well-mannered and calm spirit, he felt the anger fill him up. The sand that made up his robe twisted and almost unnoticeably made the garment spikier and harsher.

His muteness was annoying at times, but had awarded him a talent at reading body languages and facial expressions and the like; he could tell with ease that the other guardians (minus Jack) had received a similar message to his; their faces tensed with anger and their shoulders hunched with pent-up emotions. He closed his eyes and breathed, aware of the dreamsand robes loosening slightly (but not all the way - but Sandy would have been surprised if they had. He was still very, very angry, and his sand always subtly reflected his emotions in texture).

The guardian of dreams watched Jack's face. The winter spirit was talking to Bunny, who was looking more than a little annoyed (though, contrary to what the first glimpse told you, not at Jack). Tooth was watching the moon with an uncharacteristically angry look on her face, and North had his back turned to everyone (but his fur-covered shoulders were stiff and angry) as he drove the sleigh. But Jack's posture and facial expression were completely devoid of anger and frustration; instead, he seemed to have broken, his shoulders more slumped and defeated than they should be and his eyes hurt and careful and distrusting.

Evidently, the spirit had not been exempt from the messages from Manny - his was just a little different from theirs. Where theirs was a suggestion, it seemed his was a taunt, a lying whisper that told horrific untruths that made him doubt his own abilities and strengths and other's trustworthiness.

Not for the first time that month, Sandy wished he could speak. He wanted to tell Jack that it was all false, that they weren't going to throw him out, especially if he had anything to do with it; he wanted to say that Jack was stronger than he thought he was; he wanted to shout at Jack to ignore the moon, because if Manny hadn't given Jack any helpful advice or true information (bar his name) then he wasn't exactly about to start now.

But he couldn't.

Because he couldn't speak.

_Do not be so harsh on me, Sanderson. _MiM said. _All I want to do is to remove this pesky youngster from your group. Will you allow me to do that?_

_That's not all you'll do, _Sandy hissed, projecting his own thoughts into Manny's head, just like Manny was into his. _I'm not stupid, MiM, and I know you better than you think._

_We are old friends, are we not? You fell from the same skies I inhabit at this very moment. _MiM replied smoothly.

_We are, _Sandy allowed. _But no longer. You have overstepped the mark, old friend. I no longer want to even be acquaintances._

_That's a harsh punishment, Sanderson. _Manny warned. _Especially for one as pure and innocent as I._

_You're as __pure as mud. _Sandy told him. _And as innocent as someone in a prison cell. Do not try and fool me with your pretty words._

_You do not want to see my bad side. _Manny growled.

_Nor you mine. _Sandy snarled. _Begone, stranger._

Sandy could tell that the man in the moon was scowling as he climbed out of the sleigh and followed Bunny and Jack inside.

**€¥£βμ§→ North POV ←§μβ£¥€**

North let himself scowl as he tightened his grip on the reins. Nobody could see the facial evidence of his fury anyway; they were in the back of the sleigh, and he the front.

He shot a heavy glare at Manny, but didn't say anything. He couldn't put into words the anger or the irritation he currently felt towards MiM, but if he could, it would contain a lot of colourful language in Russian. There was no way he expected them to just let Jack go that easily, right? Not after the spirit's three hundred years of solitude? Not after North had started feeling fatherly again?

_You should not get attached so easily. _Manny murmured into the Russia's mind. _I've told you this before. Such attachments to your comrades only serves as weaknesses in battle._

And I told you, Manny, North rumbled. Life iz not battle. Life iz _life _and joy and wonder and dreams and hope and memories. Life needs love, da?

_No, it does not. _Manny said in frustrated exasperation. _Life is not a fairytale, North, contrary to what you seem to think. Life is a struggle; you need to think of battle strategies. Besides, that spirit is not worthy of your 'fatherly emotions', as you put it. He is dangerous and unstable._

He iz no such thing, North said, affronted. He iz Jack, and Jack iz strong and brave and capable.

_You would do well to remove his guardianship. _Manny was undeterred._ He doesn't need it any more. He himself is not needed any more._

So Jack iz disposable? North shot back, his anger rising as he spotted the sleigh ramp and angled the reindeer towards it. I do not agree.

_Disposable, hmm. . . ?_ Manny mused._ I suppose that's one way to put it. Yes - he has been used, and now we need to dispose of him._

North watched the moon warily as he landed the sleigh. Dispose? No, Jack iz not disposable. I will not let you kill Jack.

_On your head be it. _Manny said crossly, and a very dark cloud covered the moon. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

And if none of the guardians ever spoke to Manny again, then nobody mentioned it.

**€¥£βμ§§μβ£¥€**

**Just a quick note: it's deliberately vague as to where the guardians start to talk to MiM in their heads. I wanted it that way to show how the telepathic link (which is only there during a conversation with MiM; he has to initiate contact in order for it to exist) works - in a way, they're always addressing him while he's talking to them, so nothing they think is hidden from him. PM me if you have questions XD**

**I hope it was okay. . . definitely a hella lot longer than the last one. MY POOR FINGERS DX**

**I WORKED ALL DAY ON THIS BABY.**

**LOVE IT.**

**Thanks for reading. . .**

**Byeeeeeeeeeee! :D**


	3. Mistake 2: Spinning Lies

**Another chapter of this, because so many people asked for one XD It was crazy! I feared for my life. . .**

**After much deliberation I chose a route for this arc to take. I'm going with freakybubbletea (thanks for giving me so many ideas! I owe you one XD)'s simple statement of 'lots of angst but a happy ending'. I'm not the best at angst, but. . . ah, what the heck. I tried.**

**(My parents are watching The Hunger Games downstairs :D I can hear President Snow going on about Peeta and Katniss's wedding)**

**€¥£βμ§§μβ£¥€**

Jack had always assumed that Manny would forever be the good guy.

Apparently, like with tons of other stuff he didn't feel like mentioning, he had been wrong about that.

He'd thought that Manny would never become corrupted by evil - he'd believed that the moon was unreachable, untaintable, pure in spirit and heart and omnipresent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient.

He'd been wrong about that too.

Or maybe he _wasn't_ wrong.

Maybe MiM had been right, and Jack didn't deserve to be on the team. Maybe _Jack_ was the one tainted by Pitch, like Manny had said, and his point of view was warped by evil and biased by terrible deeds.

Yes, that was probably it.

Jack Frost wasn't supposed to be kind and warm and friendly anyway. He was winter, and winter killed people. Winter caused crippling injuries. He wasn't meant for a family. He wasn't meant for believers. He wasn't meant for friends.

He was winter, and winter would always, _always_, be alone.

He'd accepted that long ago.

But he'd thought - if just for a moment - that joining the guardians would change that. He could have friends, believers, people who could see him and speak to him and interact with him. For three days, _three whole days_ (despite Pitch's insistence on ruling with fear), life was pretty sweet.

But then Manny had spoken to him.

After three hundred years of being ignored, of being shunned, the one thing Manny says to him that isn't a grand _'you are Jack Frost'_ announcement is when he tells Jack that the guardians are going to start giving him the cold shoulder and turning a blind eye when Bunny drop-kicks him out of the window and the team at the same time.

_It's true, Jack,_ Manny purred into Jack's mind. _Everything you just thought. They truly don't need you. You're tainted. Evil. Twisted. How can you protect all of the children then you can't protect one? You're weak, Jack, and your kind of weakness never grows stronger no matter how many believers you scrape off of the gutter -_

Hey! Jack thought, trying to direct the flow of his thoughts to the moon. Jamie didn't come from the gutter! He was the last light. He kept the belief alive. More than you did, Jack added quietly, trying not to let Manny hear.

Manny heard.

_Oh? And you, the mighty Jack Frost, did better? The most you did was freeze a couple of things and mess everything up more. You even abandoned Sandy - you practically killed him with your bare hands!_

Jack hung his head slightly, letting his face twist into pain as his absent conversation with Bunny stopped momentarily. I didn't mean to, he said mentally.

_You're pathetic._ MiM sneered. _No wonder they don't want you._

Do they? The winter spirit felt himself asking quietly, feeling childlike as soon as he thought the words. Do they really not want me?

_Truly, they do not._ The moon's face seemed to loom over Jack, staring him down as if waiting for him to explode. _They all think you're a ticking time bomb, Jack. Tooth only loves you for your teeth. Bunny hates you with every bit of his soul. North pity-loves you. Sandy blames you for his death. You're not needed. You're not wanted. Why not accept the facts and leave ahead of being asked?_

Manny's voice was now sickly sweet and patronizingly over-understanding. If the other spirit had had a physical form, Jack mused, then at the moment they would probably be startlingly similar to that toad lady in Jamie's film about wihards and moogles (wasn't it called something like _List of the Firebird_?) - Dobbles Umbadge, right?

_Look at how easily distracted you are,_ Manny scoffed. _You are nothing more than a child._

Jack slunk inside North's workshop once the sleigh had landed, seeking refuge in the shadows and avoiding the rays of moonlight that drifted in through the windows. Excusing himself quietly, he slipped away to the guest room he'd secretly stashed his tooth box in and pried one of the floorboards up, taking the golden cylinder out before letting the plank slam back into place. He replaced the screws in record time, afterwards managing to sneak up behind the guardians and soundlessly place it on the table by the doorway.

"- he says Jack is not worthy of us, that he does not deserve love we have 'allowed' him." North rumbled, and Jack automatically figured that he was translating a particularly obscure set of Sandy's symbols for the other guardians.

"So what's he trying to say? Bunny?" Tooth asked frantically, and the low buzzing of her wings increased as she raced around in the air.

"Don'cha look a' me, mate. I ent sayin' nothin', else I'll wanna jump up an' slap tha' stupid idiot in tha shnoz."

A gasp. "Bunny!"

"What? S'true. 'E's a self-lovin', selfish ba -"

Jack quietly vanished, not wanting to hear any more.

He went back to his room (he didn't have one), packed up his belongings (he didn't own any), said a teary goodbye to his family (he didn't deserve one), and left.

He looked back.

A lot.

**€¥£βμ§§μβ£¥€**

**Ta-da!**

**I hope it was alright. . . Like I said, I tried.**

**Kudos to those who guessed which film of Jamie's Jack was talking - well, thinking - about! Message me and I'll tell you if you got it right ;)**

**Farewell, all ye followers!**


	4. Truth or Lies?

**Sorry for the lack of updates recently, a****nd sorry this isn't a ****_Mistake_**** update! That chapter ****_is _****being written, but the plot bunnies were gnawing at me about this one, so I had to write it.**

**Hope it makes up for the lack of angst! Well, there is ****_some _****angst. But not much. Just, y'know, a smidge. . .**

**¥£βμ§§μβ£¥€**

North set down his ice chiselling tools with a sigh and went to investigate the loud crash. Yetis shouted at him as he walked past and he reassured them as best he could without knowing the source of the noise.

"Everything is fine!" He said as he patted Paul on the arm. "Probably just Jack again. You know, up to old tricks?" He chortled as Paul and the yetis around him squawked with alarm.

As North pushed through the throng of yetis, he discovered that it had, indeed, been Jack who had made the noise, but it wasn't from a prank. The teen was stumbling around like he was drunk, and his face was drawn and exhausted. Even as North watched, he attempted to straighten himself, leaning heavily on his staff. Some ice appeared underneath the winter spirit, and he lost his balance before falling into a nearby stack of cuddly toys. North decided with good reason that Jack didn't have any control over his powers at the moment.

The person in question removed a teddy bear from where it was covering his face and peered up at North cautiously. He squinted at the Russian for a brief second before a bright, cheery smile lit his face, and any trace of the tiredness the large man had seen before was wiped off. "Hey, North!" Jack enthused. "Busy day? I bet it was. I mean, it's nearly Christmas, right?"

"Jack." North rumbled. "It is April."

The winter spirit looked surprised. "Is it? Oh yeah. . ." He smiled like he hadn't just forgotten which month it was and attempted to move the subject on. "Well, you're still busy. I'll just. . ."

He went to sidestep away. Needless to say, North didn't let him, smoothly blocking his path and using the sudden proximity to peer intently into the winter spirit's face. The boy's eyes were sunken, shadowed, and his cheekbones were far more prominent than normal. Jack had the look of someone who was both grossly overworked and in hospital for being run over by three buses and a train in immediate succession. Jack blinked, apparently confused at the intense expression, and North distinctly saw his eyes glaze over for a second before he visibly yanked it under control.

"Jack," North said carefully, "you are tired, no? Come, we will feast on cookies in workshop!"

"But you're busy. . ." Jack bit his lip uncertainly as North swung an arm around his shoulders and began to lead him to the Russian's private workshop. "You're Santa Claus. You have to use your time to make presents for every child who believes."

North laughed heartily, long and loud. "Da." He smiled widely. "But you believe too, hmm?"

Jack blushed a little, his cheeks turning a pale shade of blue, and North couldn't resist laughing again. Despite the happy sounds he was making, the older spirit was worried: if Jack overexerted himself, he might Fade.

_Come on, North, _he berated himself as soon as he thought that line. _Jack is not stupid. He knows about Fading, yes?_

The idea hit him like a steam train, and North found himself stopping abruptly, prompting a sudden flow of questions to gush from Jack's mouth.

_Maybe not. Maybe he does not know about Fade._

North spun Jack around to face him, his hands clamping down on the skinny boy's shoulders and pinning him to that spot. "Jack." North said seriously, staring the other spirit dead in the eyes. "Do not spread power too thin. You do not want to Fade."

Something flashed in Jack's eyes, briefly lighting them up in an emotion North couldn't read. The winter spirit gave the Christmas one a tight smile. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. It's just a myth."

_Please do not tell me. . . _"How do you know that?"

"Well, if it wasn't a myth," Jack said quietly, "then we wouldn't be having this conversation."

_No. _"Jack -"

"North." Jack interrupted in the same tone. "You can't expect me to seriously live through three hundred years of solidarity and never think of it. Did you expect me to be _happy _alone? That I'd never attempted to try? That's pretty naive, isn't it?"

North opened his mouth to answer, but a single glance from Jack stopped his words in his tracks. The boy's eyes were haunted, his voice raising in panic and hysteria.

"I've lost count of how many times I've tried. Once for every time someone walked through me. . . I stopped keeping a tally after the first twenty. Once for every time a spirit sent me a dirty look or set up a cruel prank or threw a strong attack my way. . . I don't know how many times that's happened, but I'm adept in field dressings and hiding pain, now. During the three days, with the Pitch thing. . . there were so many triggers, so many problems I'd just wanted to get away from, to escape. I just wanted to be peaceful. Why is that so hard?"

North was unashamedly crying now. The tears streamed down his face, dripping into his white beard slowly. Jack swallowed hard and looked to the left, his own eyes starting to look wet.

"You four all thought I was in league with Pitch. Didn't Bunny - didn't he say something like 'I think we just dodged a bullet', right after I'd said I didn't want to be a guardian? Something like that, anyway. He told me, up front, that nobody believes in me. pitch reminded me that I'm invisible, unwanted, a pest. . . the list goes on and on, doesn't it? Feels like it, anyway." Jack took a deep breath. He looked like he was trying to stop the words, but they kept tumbling out. "Hundreds of years to formulate hundreds of reasons to hate myself, and I'm still finding them."

"Jack," North rasped, his throat dry. "You should not hate yourself. You saved us from Pitch. You have believers. . . Jamie, Sophie, Cupcake. Da? Do not think badly of yourself because of what spirits say."

"But North," Jack whispered, "it's all true."

**¥£βμ§§μβ£¥€**

**Guys, what is wrong with me? This was actually supposed to be a fluffy, North-and-Jack-are-like-father-and-son type fic, not this! Oh, well. I'm proud-ish of this one - might be the most angst I've ever written into one piece. . . actually, probably not.**

**Sorry this one's so terrible and short. . . I might return to it at a later date and improve it, I don't know.**

**Ah, the influence of listening to Coldplay's "Fix You" on repeat. . .**

**Again, sorry this wasn't a Mistakes update :)**


	5. Author's Note (even though I hate them)

Hello all,

As you may have noticed, I've not been very active on here recently (or DeviantArt, but that's another matter entirely). This is due to a string of crazy events and developments that I never would have thought to expect/never even considered was a thing applicable to me, and while it is (mostly) my fault, I didn't even think of until yesterday. Sorry for that.

But I've decided that, since I'm so out of touch with this website (it literally took me ten minutes to remember how to post a new chapter), I'm gonna move both of my stories to ao3, or archive of our own, where my account name is chasing_the_sterek and I'm far more actively online.

So, as a result, I'm not going to be updating on here any more. I'm going to keep my account, but only for things like talking to people and having the option to leave a review if I ever read any of the fanfics on here.

Sorry,

J

PS: thanks for sticking with me for so long, and for reading and (hopefully) loving my story/stories. It's been amazing getting the positive feedback from you lot, and even if I didn't always respond I always read them.


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